Sara Jane Rose, executive director and founder of Sally's List, talks about the 10th anniversary of the business Feb. 14 at her office in Oklahoma City. [Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman]

Someone once said if Sara Jane Rose were a true Okie, she may never have founded Sally’s List.

A California native, Rose, 59, moved to Oklahoma in 2005, which is when her work in the political arena started.

Politically, Oklahoma and California couldn’t be more different, and an organization devoted to training progressive women to run for elected office in the Sooner State seemed to some like a fool's errand.

“Someone once said to me, not so many years ago, ‘You never would have started Sally’s List if you were from Oklahoma because you would have known it would fail,’” she said.

Rose, however, assumed hard work was the only thing necessary to make Sally’s List a success.

Back in California, Rose worked in the film industry. She wasn't politically active, unless you count voting in presidential elections.

But Rose became frustrated with the Sooner State's conservative political climate in the span of one trip to the Oklahoma state Capitol.

A member of the board of the Oklahoma chapter of Planned Parenthood, Rose went to the Capitol to lobby legislators. Her experience was more infuriating than fruitful, she said.

“I went down to the Capitol and was so frustrated by what I heard some of the legislators saying about why they voted the way they did,” she said. “I started at the back of the group that day and ended at the front of the group that day.”

Now, a decade after its founding, Rose has built Sally's List into a fundraising machine and in the past two years celebrated the group’s biggest crop of victories to date.

“The organization’s grown,” Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd said. “I think they’ve done a great job. They addressed a very important need in our state, and that was to encourage women to run for office.”

Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, was the group's first winning candidate.

In 2018, Sally's List had 18 endorsed candidates who won their races — a record for the group.

"They need to understand this is not a tap dance, it’s a full ballroom movement," she said.

Part of the key to winning is being a good listener. That's how so many female candidates won in 2018, Rose said. Instead of telling people all the things they wanted to do in elected office, they asked what problems voters were experiencing in their lives, she said.

As for Rose, she's a great listener, board member Andrea Benjamin said. The candidates feel comfortable talking to Rose and she serves as a role model for them to listen to voters, she said.

Women need more encouragement to run for elected office, and getting that encouragement and the skills to be successful from Sally's List is key, said Benjamin, an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma.

"The research says that women don’t run because they think the hurdles are really high," she said. "Meanwhile, as we can see from our current Democratic presidential primary, men think, 'I can just breathe and I can run.' So, there’s a lot of qualified women who are scared, and I think Sally’s List can help them."

Sara Jane Rose, executive director of Sally's List, talks to members of the board during a meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Sara Jane Rose, executive director of Sally's List, talks to members of the board during a meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Sara Jane Rose, executive director of Sally's List, talks to members of the board during a meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Alyssa Fisher, programs manager for Sally's List, listens during a board meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman]. Jackie Johnson, a board member for Sally's List, listens during a board meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Kitti Asberry, a board member for Sally's List, listens during a meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Sally's List board members meet March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Alyssa Fisher, programs manager for Sally's List, listens during a board meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Andrea Benjamin, a board member for Sally's List, listens during a meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Andrea Benjamin, a board member for Sally's List, listens during a meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Jackie Johnson, a board member for Sally's List, listens during a board meeting March 3. [Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman] Sara Jane Rose, executive director and founder of Sally's List, talks about the 10th anniversary of the business Feb. 14 at her office in Oklahoma City. [Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman]